Cheap, Tasty Japanese Beef & Chirashi Rice Bowls Starting From $7.50 At This Cheerful Eatery

This new concept was launched by Singaporean company K Food Holdings, who are behind Korean-themed eateries like Chir Chir Fusion Chicken and NY Night Market (the latter two are franchises from Korea while Sora Boru is their own made-in-SG concept). At this brightly lit restaurant, you place your orders at manned counters or via self-order kiosks, and pick up your food when your order number flashes above the collection point.

Located in the basement of 313@Somerset, the 60-seat eatery is lined with cheerfully coloured glossy tiles and anchored by a communal island table at which you can enjoy your meal perched on high stools. There are also lower tables lining the perimeter of the space set pretty close together.

There are a total of 10 to 12 types of rice bowls here. Besides unique donburi (Japanese rice bowls) like the Volcano Beef Don and Snow Beef Don, there are simpler options like a Salmon Teriyaki Toji Don (Japanese-style scrambled eggs) and Ebi Vegetable Tendon. Diners can build their own Chirashiboru or opt for a curry donburi. If you’re feeling snackish, there’s a small selection of deep-fried sides like Crispy Salmon Skin with Egg Mayo Dip and Chicken Gyoza.

For its price, this is an excellent bara chirashi, generously topped with cubes of raw fish like salmon, tuna, swordfish and scallops, and tamagoyaki (Japanese omelette) and cucumber. The seafood is gently torched before it is tossed in shrimp roe mayo, set on the bowl of rice, and then torched again to bring out the delicious fattiness of the fish oils. The shrimp roe gives the mayo and the resulting dish a lovely depth, almost like mentaiko (spicy cod roe). We also appreciate the finishing touch of tempura crisps that give the dish added crunch. FYI: The mini portion is the size of a standard Chinese rice bowl while the regular is double that. If you’re only ordering this dish, go for the regular-sized bowl, which is a steal for its price.

Think of this as the Japanese answer to the poke bowl, where diners can customise their dish. First you choose a base of either sushi rice or mixed greens before you select from five types of sashimi: salmon, scallop, tuna, octopus or swordfish. Then you choose add-ons like cooked shrimp, flying fish roe, broccoli, cherry tomatoes and a soft-boiled egg (extras cost $1 each), and a dressing — we like the recommended shoyu house blend, which combines the umami of soy sauce with a sweet citrus lilt from ponzu. Finally, choose from three garnishes: tempura crumbs, spring onions and sesame seeds — you are welcome to get all three at no extra charge.

The “volcano” element comes in the form of a gochujang (Korean spicy bean paste) sauce that is drizzled over the heap of paper-thin slivers of grilled beef. To give the beef a hint of smokiness, the slices are first pan-fried and then torched before serving. You can choose either stewed cabbage or seasoned beansprouts to go with your bowl. Although a tad too sweet for our taste, there is a good hit of spice to the sauce. A hearty, satisfying beef rice bowl.

The “snow” sauce that runs down the pile of grilled beef is made from cream, cream cheese and Parmesan. It is as rich as it sounds and oddly sweet, like the crown of froth in a cup of cheese bubble tea. All we can think when we tuck into this beef bowl is that a good dollop of spice would really cut through the richness. Jelak.

While the tempura is passably crisp and succulent, the cold soba is too soft. But at these prices, we really can’t complain.

What’s not to love about these lightly battered, crisp slivers of well-seasoned salmon skin? They are so more-ish, we want to buy a bag to take home so we can settle on the couch and watch Netflix with it. The mayo dip, flecked with chopped hard-boiled egg, makes for a simple, luscious accompaniment.

Simple and well-seasoned, this side dish was a tad dry, like it had spent a minute too long in the deep-fryer.

Cheap, cheerful and excellent value for money — especially the barachirashi bowls. That you get great variety at these prices in smaller portions is also a big plus

Sora Boru is at #B3-19/20 313@somerset, 313 Orchard Rd. S238895. Open daily. Mon-Fri 11am-10pm, Sat-Sun 11am-11pm. Last orders 9.30pm & 10.30pm https://www.facebook.com/SoraBoruSingapore/

Photos: Aik Chen/8 DAYS